Permaculture Living the Design Course

Permaculture Living The Design Course

Your nine day course held on the beautiful Fleurieu Peninsula on Kaurna, Ramindjeri and Ngarrindjeri Country, includes all workshops, materials, meals, and field trips. Explore further details below.

BOOKINGS CLOSED (2023 Course Dates: Sep 30 - Oct 2, Oct 14 - 15, Oct 28 - 29, Nov 4 - 5)

Grow your permaculture journey

Deeply embed yourself in permaculture through our Permaculture Living the Design Course

What is Permaculture?

Permaculture is a system we can all use to design and live simple, rewarding regenerative lives. It’s the creative alternative to what society offers. It combines modern science and acknowledges indigenous wisdoms of working with, rather than against nature. Underpinning Permaculture are it’s 4 ethics:

Care for Earth
Care for people
Produce and share surplus
Reduce consumption

Permaculture can be practiced by anyone irrespective of age, gender, religion, education, culture or wealth and its principles applied to home, health, education, recreation, work, & community.

“If during my life, I create an environmentally friendly home, grow and share lots of 'good' food, improve the soil and care for nature, including my neighbours (we are all nature), I will have lived a full, creative, interesting life with great satisfaction and freedom.” Jasper Simmons

Why choose Permaculture Willunga?
COMMUNITY CONNECTION & HANDS ON PRACTICALITY

Permaculture is expressed, explored and applied differently throughout Australia and the world. Permaculture Willunga are collaborative folk of different ages, genders, and experiences and not only do we embrace this diversity and make it available to you, we use the principles of Permaculture to inform our own collaboration and our course facilitation.

You will explore over 30 topics across 45 sessions with lots of hands on practical experience.

What your experience will include:

Current and future environmental / social / political contexts
Why permaculture
Ethics and principles
Gift economies
Local markets, LETS & localisation
Sustainable housing design
Sustainable community design
Design for work environments
Design for disaster

Design for personal health and family life
Social permaculture
Sharing circles
Vegetable & herb design and practice
Forest gardens / syntrophic agriculture
Reading landscape, land capability assessment, site mapping
Water management
Soils
Self care in the garden

Harvesting & preparing garden produce
Cob building
Composting
Vermicompost
Chickens
Goats
Recycling
Upcycling
Deep ecology
Nature connection
Forest bathing
Basketry
Wood carving

Meet the Facilitators

Over 80 years Permaculture experience

As a collective of six individuals, we have come together with our experience, skills, and knowledge to give you the best hands on permaculture living course

Jasper

As a budding child permie, I grew strawberries, sold them to my parents, then ate most of them. I now grow food intensively in Willunga on ½ an acre for my family and friends, the weekly Gifting Table and the local LETS Market. I completed the Permaculture Trainer’s & Creative Adult Facilitation Courses in 2004 and my PDC in 2005. Since then I’ve taught Permaculture at Flinders
University, coordinated Regional Permaculture Groups and Gardening Clubs and am currently working on the 2023 National Convergence. I love going
slow, sharing circles, gifting and a touch of theatre.

Dani

My happy place is our greenhouse, where we grow vegetables, natives and other beautiful plants. We live in a self build strawbale house in South Australia's permaculture-inspired Aldinga Arts Eco Village, where we grow vegetables, keep chickens, and milk goats. I have worked in environmental education for 15 years and currently run a native plant and animal sanctuary in McLaren Vale.

www.folkofalltrades.com

Chad

For the past 3 years Emily and I have been living in Willunga, connecting with and improving our land. Over the past few years we have planted close to 1000 trees on our property. I have started a worm business selling worm castings, teas/extracts and worms. We trade at the Willunga Farmers Markets and have found a wonderful community. I am passionate about soil and the links with human health and am on a constant journey of learning.

Emily

I’m Emily! By profession I am a primary school teacher and have been working with children for close to 7 years. I love working with people to create community both on and off our farm. My passions are around up-cycling, retrofitting, gardening and adding creativity to projects. Chad and I live in Willunga and are passionate about improving the land we live on. We completed our PDC in 2021 and have found so much value in living by the permaculture principles to move closer to living a more simplistic and wholesome lifestyle.

Sam

I can usually be found in the workshop fixing, tinkering, or whittling something from wood.

My love of trees and plants leads to my work in native conservation, and small scale fine timber and carbon forestry on our share farm in Kuitpo.

Dani and I also run workshops on more than 30 different sustainable living topics – from carving wooden spoons and making beeswax wraps to brewing kombucha, making festive gifts and more as Folk of all Trades.

www.folkofalltrades.com

Chris

I've been using permaculture principles most of my life & retirement gives even more opportunities to put it into practice. Having worked in the health business I see the garden as the ideal place to eat well, get fit & have peace of mind. I get a great deal of satisfaction from making stuff whether it be food, clothing, or a basket or trellis before the materials are sent to the compost heap ( my favourite entertainment venue!). I'm optimistic about the next generation & would love to pass on my experience to anyone who's keen to listen.I did a permaculture design course in 2000 & was responsible for starting the Duck Flat Community Garden at Mt Barker where we ran several Magic Harvest programmes & other community activities.

Living & learning during the course

This 9 day intensive design and implementation experience is facilitated across four venues within the Willunga Basin. By including the essentials of permaculture design, as well as opportunities to put these principles into practice, participants develop the knowledge and skills to travel their life’s journey in a deeply considered and for many, inspiring direction.

Hands-on Activities

This course will have a major focus on hands on activities and workshops for you to learn by doing, and enjoy the real life elements of Permaculture. Activities will cover a range of the topics mentioned above and will give you an opportunity to try making fermented foods, weave with plants, build with cob, and much more.

Field Trips and Tours

You will also experience a range of places and visit not only the venues listed below, but other local sanctuaries and sites. These tours are interactive so you can ask questions, and see a plethora of real life examples of Permaculture in practice.

Conceptual learning

Participants will come to terms with the understandings and principles of Permaculture through the use of many and varied practical processes. These will include discussions, work shopping, individual and group exploration, questioning, personal reflection, sharing circles, role plays and many practical applications. This is definitely not a sit and be talked at experience!

Course Materials

All course materials will be provided to you, primarily in electronic format. However, if you would like anything printed, please let us know in advance or after the session for later use.

Engaging in Learning and Community

This Permaculture experience is for adults from all walks of life, looking to create ”The More Beautiful World our heart knows is possible” (Charles Eisenstein), willing to question themselves and others and willing to seek new ways forward. We acknowledge that everyone brings different knowledge, skills and experiences that can benefit all. We invite you to share the responsibility for your own learning, for example there will be explorations to do at home. You will need to work alone, in small and in large groups and be involved in many practical, hands on activities.

Your most life changing decisions however, will not necessarily come from what you hear us say, but will emerge from your own journey and contemplations.

Dates and Times

Calendar

Respecting work commitments for many, this entire experience will be conducted on weekends and public holidays.

Culturally, many residents of the Willunga Basin bioregion shop at markets on Saturday mornings. Catering for this we commence later on Saturdays.

Weekend 1

Sat 30 Sep: afternoon and evening
Sun 1 Oct: morning and afternoon
Mon 2 Oct (public holiday): morning and afternoon

Weekend 2

Sat 14 Oct: afternoon
Sun 15 Oct: morning and afternoon

Weekend 3

Sat 28 Oct: afternoon
Sun 29 Oct: morning and afternoon

Weekend 4

Sat 4 Nov: afternoon and evening
Sun 5 Nov: morning and afternoon

Places and Venues

During the course you will intimately experience 4 different Permaculture properties, each one with it’s own story to tell.

Food for thought farms: This is Emily Frahn and Chad Freak’s rural home of 7ha on the outskirts of Willunga. It’s a great example of what can be achieved, in just 2.5 years. Here you will experience native reveg, home produce growing, a chicken co-operative, a retrofitted home, massive shipping container work space, a tiny home an earthship and the beginnings of a vermicompost (worm castings) business.

Mantilla: Chris Banks’ old 1860s stone home set on a large suburban block in Willunga boasts a large cellar and an award winning kitchen renovation ideal for processing garden produce and inviting the sun’s winter warmth into the southern side of the home. The home is nestled amongst lawns for grand children, weaving storage and studio spaces, chicken co-operative and productive mixed garden featuring many and varied functional woven installations.

Wander Gather Ponder: A large and expanding suburban block being developed by Jasper Simmons over the last 11 years as a forest garden and permaculture demonstration site. The retrofitted home and block include a number of cheap alternative accommodation solutions and hosts Open Gardens, permaculture and pottery art exhibitions and workshops, sharing circles and theatre performances in the near future. Examples of repurposed concrete and other materials abound. Intensive food and firewood production is supported by nitrogen fixing and nutrient accumulating support plants, syntropic agriculture pruning techniques, chicken and duck waste, bio char creation, composting and comprehensive water harvesting.

Aldinga Folk House: Explore this strawbale self build home, and small very productive garden. Home features includes reclaimed materials, and a distinct lack of plastic - even the paint is a natural clay paint. The house is a compact lower cost home - although priority was given to a big pantry! The productive garden has an in ground veggie area mimicking market garden systems, plus fruit trees and chooks. The small greenhouse and extended plant propagation zone has a simple DIY home scale self timed irrigation system. The native garden is an ornamental yet wild space for wildlife. The Folk House is within the Aldinga Arts Eco Village, and we are part of the allotment community garden and goat community group.

Food

Growing, harvesting, processing and sharing food is an integral part of a permaculture lifestyle. To facilitate this experience, participants in small rostered groups, will be involved in produce harvesting, learning meal preparation, and group clean up.

Meals will focus as much as possible on local, seasonal, organic foods and we hope to include in every main meal, some food harvested from the host property.

All meals will include vegetarian, vegan, and gluten free options.

During full days, the main meal, morning or afternoon teas will be provided. When the program starts late, participants will bring their own lunches for the first session. When days extend from lunchtime into the evening, afternoon tea and the evening meal will be provided.

Other course information and logistics

Accommodation
For those who want accommodation in or around Willunga on the Fridays, Saturdays or Sunday Oct 1 (long weekend) there are a number of options listed below from the cheapest:

Food for Thought Farms camp sites. For only $10 per night, this includes camp site, camp kitchen, water, drop toilet and power for charging devices. It is self-catering and the hose is the only shower. Contact Emily (course facilitator) emily.frahn@gmail.com

Mantilla homestay: All the comforts of home including breakfast. There are two rooms, one with a double bed ($60 for two; $40 for one a night), one with a single ($40 a night). Contact Chris (course facilitator) christine.mbanks@gmail.com

Aldinga Beach Holiday Park, 111 Cox Road Aldinga Beach SA 5173: Unpowered sites start at $30 per night, cabins at $75 a night. Contact mail@aldingaholiday.com.au (08) 8556 3444

McLaren Vale Caravan Park, 48 Field Street McLaren Vale, S.A. 5171: Unpowered sites start at $39 per night, cabins start at $145 a night. Contact reception@mclarenvalecaravanpark.com.au (08) 8323 9255

There are also many and varied B&Bs in the region.

For accommodation bookings, contact each venue direct.

Grow your permaculture journey

Embed yourself in this deep permaculture journey through the Permaculture Living the Design course